The invention relates to a device for delivering conditioned air into a passenger area of a rail vehicle, the device comprising a duct that extends along the bottom of a side wall of the passenger area and that is provided with distribution means for distributing the air towards the top and the bottom of the side wall, which distribution means include an opening in an intermediate zone, air contained in the vehicle being sucked into the distribution means via said opening.
Document FR-A1-2 632 593 discloses such a device for delivering conditioned air into a passenger area of a rail vehicle. In that device, the duct opens out via its top into a space defined by two parallel walls adjacent to the side wall of the passenger area and extending over the entire length of the passenger area. That space opens out via its top into the inside of the vehicle via gratings that are situated substantially level with the windows of the vehicle. Usually, one such conditioned air delivery device is installed on each side of the passenger area so as to deliver conditioned air to the various rows of seats disposed on either side of the central corridor.
In such a case, in order for the circulation of air to be comfortable, the air exiting from the gratings must successively flow along the side wall of the passenger area, be deflected by the ceiling or the luggage rack, flow almost horizontally to meet the flow coming from the other side of the passenger area in the midplane of the corridor, and then flow down towards the floor while remaining in said midplane.
However, the Applicant has observed that such an installation suffers from the drawback of being sensitive to differences in flow rate that exist between the feed ducts of the delivery devices disposed on either side of the passenger area, and to any thermal or physical disturbance which tends to unbalance the circulation of air on one side of the vehicle, thereby generating draughts that are unpleasant for passengers.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for delivering conditioned air into a passenger area that remedies those drawbacks, while guaranteeing that air is renewed stably and uniformly in the passenger area so as to offer improved comfort in the passenger area.
To this end, the invention provides a device for delivering conditioned air into a passenger area of a rail vehicle, said device comprising a duct extending along the bottom of a side wall of the passenger area, that side face of said duct which is adjacent to the inside of the passenger area being provided with air outlet means disposed over the entire length of the duct and designed so as to release a flow of air across the floor of the vehicle, the top of the duct being provided with openings opening out in a space defined laterally by two substantially parallel walls adjacent to the side wall of the vehicle, said space opening out via its top portion into the passenger area and its wall that is adjacent to the inside of the passenger area being provided, close to the duct, with one or more slots into which air contained in the passenger area is sucked, wherein said openings are distributed over the length of the duct such that air outlet zones provided with openings are disposed in alternation with barrier zones not provided with any openings, and wherein partitions extending between the parallel walls are disposed where the air outlet zones meet the barrier zones.
In particular embodiments, the conditioned air delivery device of the invention may have one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or in any technically feasible combination:
the wall that is towards the inside of the passenger area and that contributes to defining laterally the spaces into which the openings open out is a wall that extends over the entire length of the duct;
the slots into which air contained in the passenger area is sucked are disposed only in register with the air outlet zones;
the vehicle is provided with side windows disposed on either side of separating uprights, and the barrier zones are disposed in register with the separating uprights, the air outlet zones being disposed in register with the windows;
the spaces in register with the air outlet zones open out into the passenger area via gratings disposed substantially level with the windows of the vehicle, said gratings being extended in register with the barrier zones by closed-off gratings;
the barrier zones represent in the range 10% to 25% of the total length of the duct.